From 8′ C to 28’C in a Day – starts dark / Raining .

We left the Alberques Quattro Cantons in Belorado in the dark whose fabulous food and wooden beams at €11 plus same for dinner on a (deluxe )Menu Pelegríno ( PG ) still astonish . The whole town ate there .

Our Typical Room and boot room . You can get a lot of PG’s into one if these 😳

Here’s the start with my oh so stylish storm poncho – …. lashing it down – the idea is it covers your pack as well !!

Girls looking a tad more stylish !!

And the last sunrise in Rioja

As we walk into Castile y Leon

Where there care and consideration for travellers extends to pavement art .

Six hours of rain and 25k later on these endless forest tracks we passed some chilling 1936 civil war execution sites ; gripping memorials , careful names and family histories largely based on local hearsay and DNA and photo boards of the recent excavations in the loneliest of places – … photographing it felt inappropriate.

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Sun lifts the day by 2.00 pm and as I move ahead I meet up with Johnny Boy – top bloke – for a lunch of basically what we carried – Sausage , Bread , Semi-Curado , Cheese and ( just the one 🤣) 70 cent a glass red in St Juan de Ortega .

Joined later by straggling PG’s to sit in front of the monastery and share the usual stories of track boredom , blisters and reflections .

We pass through the village of Argès with an encouraging sign that says we have reduced our Km’s from 800 to 518-..nice.

To end a 32k day in Atapuerca – whose history and Stone Age Archeaology we completely ignore to reach a chilled Cervesa Grande and extraordinary service standards and dreamy Paèlla in a simple Hostal .

Xxxxx – Ian